Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The moment the man stepped into the room—

‘Ugh!’

his breath caught in his throat.

It felt as though the very mass of gravity pressing down on his entire body had changed.

From beyond that grotesque clown mask with its silly grin, an overwhelming amount of Mana was pouring out.

Just from standing in front of the man, Kang Hyo-jun felt as though every organ in his body was being crushed under unbearable pressure.

‘I c-can’t breathe… I can’t… breathe.’

Remote though this place was, Kang Hyo-jun was still a manager of the Market.

During his training, he had at least once seen, albeit from afar, the EX-rank Hunter known as the Martial God, said to be the strongest on Earth.

Even then, he had not felt this level of primitive fear.

‘On par with the Martial God… no, even beyond him…!’

Who in the world was this?

The question rose naturally in his mind.

A Hunter stronger than the Martial God?

He had never even heard of such a being.

Another EX-rank Hunter?

No, that was not it either.

The only other EX-rank Hunter besides the Martial God was known not to be a combat-type Hunter.

‘A being above EX-rank?’

That kind of thing… did not exist!

‘I-I’m going to die…!’

Kang Hyo-jun desperately forced his Mana into motion.

He pushed Mana into his crumpled Mana Road.

He struggled with all his might.

“I came to sell a Mana Stone.”

The man tossed out the words in a flat voice devoid of emotion.

After desperately forcing his Mana to circulate, Kang Hyo-jun finally managed to respond.

“…Yes.”

Once he stabilized himself, breathing became much easier.

‘Whew.’

Thanks.

The man set the massive object he had been holding onto the floor.

‘!!!’

Kang Hyo-jun’s eyes widened so far they looked ready to split apart.

There were five total grades of Mana Stones.

Much like Hunter ranks, there were five: S, A, B, C, and D.

Among those, the Black Market only dealt in the top three grades, from S to B.

That was why the Mana Stone most commonly traded in the Market was B-rank.

That was what Kang Hyo-jun normally pictured when he heard the words Mana Stone.

But…

The thing that man had just dropped on the floor was far too large to call a Mana Stone so casually.

A B-rank Mana Stone was described as being about the size of a child’s fist.

An A-rank one was the size of an adult man’s fist. An S-rank one was the size of a child’s head.

This was an age where fruit was hard to come by, so even comparisons had turned out like this.

But that Mana Stone was the size of an adult man’s head.

Which meant it was S-rank or larger.

‘…No matter how conservatively I estimate it, that means he killed a boss monster from above the eightieth floor.’

Kang Hyo-jun’s eyes sharpened.

And that… purity.

What was that?

There was no damage whatsoever on the surface.

It was perfectly smooth.

‘…Which means he killed it in a single strike, with an ambush so precise there wasn’t even the slightest margin of error.’

Gulp.

At this moment,

Kang Hyo-jun decided to completely forget how he had treated Alchemist as merely some lunatic all this time.

This man was not a madman.

‘He is a monster.’

An unknown powerhouse that existed in no database whatsoever…!

“Have you finished appraising it?”

“…Pardon? Ah, yes.”

Kang Hyo-jun snapped back to his senses.

“At minimum, it is S-rank.”

“I see.”

The man said it as though it meant nothing.

‘…I said S-rank.’

At this level, it was valuable enough to buy even the equipment used by Han Seol-ah, the Guardian herself.

And yet he had tossed a treasure like that onto the floor as casually as if he were discarding a pebble, then remained perfectly calm?

“…Would you like to exchange it for Gold, the official currency used by the Hunter Association? Since it is not an official route, there will be a service fee, of course.”

“I do not need Gold…”

‘…A Hunter turning down Gold?’

That universal currency, valuable enough to obtain even top-tier artifacts classified as National Treasures if you had enough of it?

“Th-then… cash?”

“I do not want cash either.”

The man shook his head.

“It is heavy.”

“…Pardon?”

“I will take goods instead.”

“What kind of…?”

The man raised three fingers.

“There are three things I need right away.”

“Yes.”

“First priority. An artifact that can conceal my identity. Something with proven performance.”

Kang Hyo-jun’s mind moved quickly.

There were plenty of artifacts like that.

But he could not casually propose a low-value artifact to someone of this caliber.

‘He would start doubting the Market’s judgment itself.’

“That is possible. As it happens, we currently have an A-rank artifact in stock—the Shadow Mask.”

It was engraved with Shadow Stealth, a top-tier stealth skill that could even grant complete invisibility if the wearer wished it.

And it also had a face-changing function that could alter the wearer’s appearance to any face they desired, with Thousand Faces being its highest-grade transformation skill.

It had once been one of Japan’s National Treasures, and the equipment of a certain Ranker.

But that Ranker had died while climbing the Tower, and after drifting through the Tower, it had eventually found its way into the Black Market.

Nod.

The man gave a silent nod.

‘That is one request cleared.’

Kang Hyo-jun wiped his damp palms on his trousers and swallowed dryly.

“Second. Darknet access privileges. Highest level.”

“I can issue that immediately. I will give you an administrator-grade account, which is even higher than the top standard access level.”

This time as well, Kang Hyo-jun went all in.

An administrator-grade account.

It was a super-account possessed only by the branch managers of each Market branch.

It was a level that should never be granted to an ordinary user, one with powers as extreme as deleting posts and banning users outright.

‘It is an abuse of authority, but if I say I offered it to satisfy the Alchemist, the upper levels will understand.’

Nod.

The grotesque mask moved slowly up and down.

‘Good. Just one left.’

“Consumables needed for climbing the Tower. Potions, food, and all kinds of miscellaneous tools. All of them top quality.”

“….”

Climbing the Tower?

At that utterly unexpected request, Kang Hyo-jun’s mind stalled for a moment.

‘Which Tower?’

A powerhouse at this level should have been capable of clearing any Tower if he set his mind to it.

Any Tower except Republic of Korea’s.

‘Surely not the Republic of Korean Tower?’

…That place was hell, something no one could ever clear alone no matter how strong they were.

‘There is no way. Unless he is going there to commit suicide.’

Naturally, the ninety-fourth floor of Korea was outside the question. So if he meant the next most difficult one, then…

“Is that difficult?”

“N-no, not at all. It is possible. Yes. I will prepare everything in top quality. In addition to what you requested, I will include an airship ticket to India and everything else necessary for climbing the seventy-fourth floor of the Tower—”

“India? Seventy-fourth floor?”

“…?”

‘…No. Surely not. Please tell me no.’

“Then which one are you…?”

“The ninety-fourth floor.”

“….”

‘It really is Republic of Korea’s Tower. Damn.’

For a moment, Kang Hyo-jun was left speechless.

‘Is suicide your hobby?’ he wanted to ask…

but he could not.

“U-understood. I will prepare for it.”

A customer—no, a VIP customer with wealth beyond measure—had made a request.

There was no way he could refuse.

‘D-damn it. What exactly does someone need to climb the ninety-fourth floor…?’

Nod.

Whether he knew what was going through Kang Hyo-jun’s frantic mind or not,

the man merely nodded indifferently.

“A-as for the remaining amount…”

Even after accepting demands of this magnitude,

there would still be a great deal of money left over.

He could pretend not to notice and simply pocket it,

but honestly, he was too afraid of what might come later.

“Keep it.”

‘Does he think this is a bank?’

There was no such function as keeping the remaining balance.

“Yes, sir. I will keep it safely managed.”

But Kang Hyo-jun merely nodded.

Now there was.

Because he was going to make it exist.

Nod.

‘Whew. It is over.’

Just as the man gave that final nod and was about to leave through the door—

“Ah.”

At that one short exclamation, Kang Hyo-jun’s heart dropped straight to the floor.

“…Hk.”

“One last thing.”

The man turned back to look at Kang Hyo-jun.

“I need a forged identity.”

“….”

‘You should have said that first!’

Even Kang Hyo-jun could not answer that so easily.

Creating a forged identity in Republic of Korea?

That part was not difficult.

The difficult part was creating an identity that would not get caught.

Because of Min Ji-hee, the Vice President of the Republic of Korean Hunter Association—Ironblood Min Ji-hee.

‘That lunatic has the personal information of every single Hunter in Republic of Korea memorized inside her head.’

The moment someone moved around using a forged identity and got caught by Min Ji-hee’s radar, it would be exposed with one hundred percent certainty.

‘…What if we combined it with the Shadow Mask and stole the identity of a dead Hunter?’

Even that would not be easy.

The ‘full personal records of every Hunter’ said to exist in Min Ji-hee’s head included dead Hunters as well.

If someone disguised himself as a dead Hunter and Min Ji-hee laid eyes on him?

—You died 2 years, 3 months, and 14 days ago. That is to say, 836 days ago, during the ninety-sixth Break defense battle, on the Namyangju front.

…She would definitely recognize it like that.

“…That will take time. I will come up with a method.”

For now, it was impossible.

And the moment he reached that conclusion, the next thought followed naturally.

A normal Hunter would register with the Association, receive proper treatment, and climb the Tower openly.

And if someone was this powerful, any Association in the world would be desperate to shower him with every benefit they had and every benefit they did not.

And yet he was deliberately coming through the Market,

even asking for a forged identity before entering the Tower?

There was only one conclusion.

‘Infiltration.’

This monster was trying to carry out something in secret, something that had to be done without the Association or the nation noticing.

And whatever that something was,

it could never—

never—be something small.

It felt as though he were glimpsing the hidden reverse side of the system, something humanity had never known since the dawn of the Hunter era.

That secret thrill—

his heart began to pound.

“P-please wait just thirty seconds.”

Kang Hyo-jun moved without another word.

He would ask no questions.

All he had to do was place the ‘product’ his customer desired into his hands.

Crash!

Kang Hyo-jun hurried downstairs.

A small transfer orb connected to the Market headquarters hummed softly.

He rapidly typed onto the keyboard attached to it.

Shadow Mask (A-rank).

Administrator-grade account key (new issue).

Top-grade recovery potion set.

And in addition—

‘I should add one extra service.’

Spatial Expansion Bag (S-rank).

An artifact worth as much as or more than the Shadow Mask itself.

But this was not the time to be calculating numbers.

[And the price?]

“Administrator authority. Send the goods first.”

[Confirmed.]

At once, sparks crackled across an ordinary wall.

Flash!

A pitch-black Gate opened,

and from beyond it, the items Kang Hyo-jun had requested came tumbling out.

This was the secret the Market kept hidden.

The power to ‘trade’ across all time and space.

The Exchange.

Kang Hyo-jun hastily stuffed the items into the Spatial Expansion Bag and came back upstairs.

“Here they are.”

Kang Hyo-jun placed the black bag on the table.

“As for items that may help with climbing the Tower… for now, I have only placed the potion set inside. I will gather more information on what may be needed for climbing the ninety-fourth floor and prepare the rest afterward.”

“I will come tomorrow.”

“…Yes. I will have it ready by tomorrow.”

Bow.

Kang Hyo-jun lowered his head deeply in apology.

And when he raised it again—

‘Huh?’

The place where the man had been standing only moments ago was empty.

Only a faint trace of cold remained behind.

***

‘That was dangerous.’

Synchronization had nearly worn off on the way back home.

‘It felt close enough that I did not even have time to properly say goodbye to the manager.’

Thankfully, my own calculation of the time had not been wrong.

I had landed exactly where I intended to, just as planned.

Immediately after that, Synchronization ended, and my body returned once again to that of an Awakening-incompetent.

“Huaaah.”

A deep soreness spread through my entire body.

I had pulled Mana into myself and strengthened my whole body to the limit, so this was an unavoidable price.

“Let’s inspect the goods.”

The reason I returned somewhere other than home was simple.

Because there was an Appraisal Center here where I could appraise artifacts.

Whiiing—

I opened the door to the Appraisal Center,

passed through the empty lobby,

and took out a plain mask with no markings from the bag, placing it on the appraisal device.

Ding!

[Shadow Mask]

[A-rank]

[Shadow Stealth] (Top-grade)

[Thousand Faces] (Top-grade)

“Oh.”

It was exactly as the manager had described.

An artifact that concealed my identity had been my highest priority.

Once I started climbing the Tower, it would be impossible to avoid exposing my identity.

…But the problem was that a person like ‘me’ would not exist in Republic of Korea’s national database after it had been reorganized during the Hunter era.

However,

If someone looked up the registries from before the Hunter era, my identity would inevitably be exposed.

And then, naturally, they would realize that I was a mutant that should not exist in this age.

And then, rather than seeing me as a ‘Savior Hunter with the greatest power in humanity,’ they would see me as ‘an unidentified monster.’

Because a human without Mana could not exist.

And the only living things without Mana were Demonic Beasts.

‘Then let’s test the performance.’

When I put the mask on, it fit snugly against my face with remarkable comfort.

It felt like wearing an extremely thin mask over my skin.

“Hoo— Hah.”

Breathing was completely fine.

There were no annoying issues like moisture building up inside or any lingering smell.

And then came the moment of truth: the disguise function.

I turned my face toward the mirror inside the Appraisal Center.

“Perfect.”

Reflected in the mirror was the face of an utterly ordinary man, the sort whose impression was so faint you would never remember it.

“Mm. That was a satisfying shopping trip.”

I ought to put the Coins left over from selling the Mana Stone to good use as well.

‘Since purchases can be made from home, anyway.’

It had been a while…

Maybe I should order some cup ramen.

“Heh.”

That dream-filled thought had barely crossed my mind when—

Whiiing—

the sound of a door opening echoed out.

“?”

The back of my neck turned cold.

‘…Is someone still left in Incheon? That cannot be right.’

Everyone was either under total conscription or evacuation.

At present, Incheon was an environment in which there should have been no humans at all.

And yet someone had entered, which meant there was only one possibility.

‘…A Demonic Beast.’

Somewhere, a guerrilla Gate had opened.

And a Demonic Beast that emerged from it had now entered the Appraisal Center.

‘….’

This was bad.

With Synchronization inactive, I was nothing but a pitiful old-human body with not a single trace of Mana.

To reactivate Synchronization, I would have to return home, and that was a five-minute walk from here.

And on top of that, the Appraisal Center was an open interior with nothing but backless benches and appraisal machines… and there was only one entrance.

I could not run, and I could not hide…!

Feeling cold sweat break out across the back of my neck,

I slowly turned around.

And what I saw was—

‘People?’

Three people.

People I knew very well.

And one of them shouted loudly,

“L-Lord Nebula!”

That trivial little voice I liked so much.

And… the woman shouting my character’s nickname, something I had never once imagined hearing in reality.

‘…Han Seol-ah?’

What are you doing here?